Tom Carper: “I salute Senators Kennedy and Enzi and their staffs for providing an excellent piece of legislation. It was not an easy…”

“I salute Senators Kennedy and Enzi and their staffs for providing an excellent piece of legislation. It was not an easy thing to do on a difficult subject. I thank them for their efforts and for getting us to this point. Yesterday evening, our colleagues and friends, Senators Dorgan and Snowe, filed an amendment to S. 1082 that would allow for reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada and from certain other countries. In previous years, a number of us, including me, supported reimportation legislation, so long as the Secretary of Health and Human Services certifies that the reimportation of prescription drugs can be done both safely and cost-effectively. Earlier this morning Senator Cochran filed a second-degree amendment to the Dorgan-Snowe legislation that seeks to require that certification in the context of this legislation that is before us today. Senator Cochran's amendment would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to certify that the provisions within the Dorgan-Snowe reimportation program would pose no additional risk to the public's health and safety.”